Xie Fengran followed the Fourth Princess to her palace to take a rest.
When they arrived, she found that Lanfang was already waiting there. Seeing Xie Fengran, Lanfang resisted the urge to rush forward and examine her. She bowed respectfully to the Fourth Princess.
Xie Fengran was quite surprised to see Lanfang. She had just planned to ask the Fourth Princess to find someone to bring in her personal maid, but unexpectedly, the person was already here.
She couldn't help but sincerely express her gratitude. "Thank you, Your Highness."
The Fourth Princess covered her mouth and quickly explained, "I originally wanted to find a set of clothes you could wear, but unexpectedly, Crown Prince Brother had already sent your maid over. If you want to thank someone, thank him!"
Xie Fengran smiled but didn't respond. She let the palace maid lead her to the side hall. Lanfang helped her change clothes.
She had just been pulled out from under the railing. Although she didn't fall into the water, the wide dress still inevitably got wet.
After all, no matter how capable Qin Junxing was, he couldn't even save the clothes.
Lanfang looked at the wet hem of Xie Fengran's dress and felt a bit worried. She looked at the palace maids guarding the door and couldn't help but whisper, "Miss, what on earth happened? How could you almost fall into the water?"
Xie Fengran also whispered back, "I'm fine. You just came from the garden. Does Grandmother know about this? Where is Xie Yunxi now?"
Just now when she was pulled away by the Fourth Princess, such a thing happened. She didn't know if Xie Yunxi was involved in it.
She just hoped that it wouldn't bring trouble to the Marquis's Mansion.
Just after Xie Fengran was pulled away by the Fourth Princess, Lanfang had been following Old Lady Xie. She said at once, "Grandmother hasn't received the news yet, but I guess the Queen knows."
When she came just now, a little eunuch went to say something to the stewardess beside the Queen, and then the Queen's face turned unpleasant.
"Then a little eunuch came to pick me up."
Xie Fengran pursed her lips. "Was that little eunuch from the Crown Prince's side?"
Lanfang thought carefully and replied, "The little eunuch said that Miss Xie and the Fourth Princess were strolling together. The Crown Prince then sent him to pick up the maid who served Miss Xie."
Xie Fengran's heart sank. With the Queen's favor and the Crown Prince's actions like this, how could those smart and observant noble ladies not understand what it meant?
Coupled with the fact that Grandmother didn't object, it was a done deal now.
Xie Fengran touched her empty wrist, and a dark light flashed in her eyes. She couldn't just accept her fate without doing anything!
After changing clothes, Xie Fengran walked out of the side hall. The Fourth Princess had already prepared tea and pastries. Seeing Xie Fengran come out, she waved.
"Sister Xie, come quickly. These pastries are from Mother's small kitchen. You can't eat them anywhere else. There's still some time until the dinner. Fill your stomach first."
Xie Fengran wasn't polite with her. She sat on the other side of the table and picked up a pastry to eat.
She had wasted half a day arguing and outwitting the Third Princess. She was hungry.
Moreover, after getting along for so long, she found that although the Fourth Princess had the pride and arrogance of being born into the royal family, she wasn't overbearing. She didn't think she was superior just because of her status.
Instead, she was innocent and lovely. Since Xie Fengran didn't flatter and curry favor with her like others, the Fourth Princess really wanted to make friends with Xie Fengran.
After eating two pastries, Xie Fengran touched her empty wrist. A look of guilt appeared on her face. She said apologetically, "It was my negligence that broke the bracelet the Queen bestowed. I should go and plead guilty."
"Elder Sister, it's not your fault at all. It's clearly Qin Zhaoyang's fault. Humph! If it weren't for Cousin, you would have fallen into the water. This matter isn't over yet. Crown Prince Brother won't just watch you being bullied like that."
Xie Fengran's expression froze. She didn't want the Crown Prince to avenge her. Wouldn't that make things even more unclear?
She just hoped that the Third Princess would be more outspoken, more aggressive, and shout it out so that everyone would know.
Her grandmother valued reputation the most. At that time, to avoid suspicion, she wouldn't be so quick to marry into the royal family. Then there would be room for maneuver.
The Fourth Princess didn't know what Xie Fengran was thinking. She just thought she was worried, so she comforted her, "It's not your fault. Mother is the most fair and reasonable. She definitely won't blame you. Sister Xie, don't take it to heart."
Xie Fengran appropriately showed a worried look on her face. "Even if the Queen doesn't blame me, I still feel extremely guilty. I've really let down the Queen's kindness."
Anyway, the bracelet was broken, and it was the Third Princess who pushed her. Naturally, she described herself as pitiful as possible.
The Fourth Princess kept trying to console her.
On the other side, after the ladies of various families had sized up the young ladies several times, the Queen announced the end of the first round of the program. Then the palace maids came in and led the guests to the prepared halls to change clothes and take a rest. They also had some pastries and tea, waiting for the evening palace banquet.
The Queen and the imperial concubine each returned to their palaces and would only attend the palace banquet.
Old Lady Xie followed the palace maid towards the prepared resting place. On the way, a little eunuch hurriedly brought Xie Yunxi over. He just said that the Crown Prince had ordered him to hand the person over to the old lady of the Marquis's Mansion, and then he ran away.
Xie Yunxi forced herself to curtsy and called out, "Grandmother." After that, a look of guilt appeared on her face, and her eyes kept dodging.
Seeing her like this, Old Lady Xie's heart skipped a beat. She sized up Xie Yunxi several times from head to toe. Considering that there were many people here, she didn't lose her temper. She just said, "Follow up!"
Xie Yunxi let out a sigh of relief. She didn't expect the Third Princess to act so impulsively. When the Crown Prince sent someone to take the Third Princess away, she was almost scared to death.
Just when she thought she was going to be in trouble, the Crown Prince actually sent someone to send her back.
Xie Yunxi rolled her eyes, thinking about how to explain things to her grandmother later so that she could get herself out of it.
While Xie Yunxi was scheming here, the Queen was also scheming on the other side.
"Where is the Third Princess now? Bring her to me!" As soon as the Queen returned to the palace, she said nothing and wanted to punish the Third Princess.
The stewardess beside her twitched the corner of her mouth and advised, "Your Majesty, there is still a banquet tonight. You'd better wait until after the banquet to lose your temper."
"Humph, usually I've given her too much face. She really thinks she's a precious princess."
The Queen was really angry. She attached the most importance to the marriage with the Marquis of Dingguo's Mansion now. It seemed that there was some progress, and Old Lady Xie was also interested.
But now it had been shouted out by the Third Princess. Old Lady Xie valued her reputation the most. How could she marry into the royal family with the reputation of climbing up?
For a moment, the stewardess couldn't stop her. She could only watch helplessly as someone went to fetch the Third Princess.
"Mother, please calm down." Unexpectedly, the Crown Prince came and stopped the person. "If you want to punish her, it doesn't have to be now. There's no need to let others watch the joke."
"Now I have something more important to discuss with Mother."